Bottle and closure



June 1959- c. CASTELLI BOTTLE AND CLOSURE Filed Feb. 1, 1957 INVENTOR R15: 6457541.] BY 9 2 g f A ORNEY I United States Patent 2,892,560 BOTTLE AND CLOSURE Charles Castelli, New Brunswick, N.J., assignor to Johnson & Johnson, a corporation of New Jersey Application February 1, 1957, Serial No. 637,776 2 Claims. (Cl. 21559) This invention relates to bottles and similar containers provided with devices to prevent accidental spilling and easy removal of the container contents. More particularly, this invention relates to bottles and containers having stopper devices positioned in the interior to automatically close the opening through which the container contents are removed.

The invent-ion is particularly applicable to containers for liquid or semi-liquid medicinals, pharmaceuticals, and similar preparations which for safety reasons are usually kept in medicine closets out of the reach of children, who, without knowledge of the nature of the container contents, may drink them if the container was accessible. The invention is especially effective in preventing removal of the contents by sucking, which is typical of the way infants and small children attempt to remove the contents of a bottle. Under such circumstances, the sealing effect of the device of this invention is increased to provide an additional measure of security.

A number of devices of the type to which this invention relates have been developed heretofore. Such de vices include stoppers and valves for closing the opening in the container which operate as floats or are actuated by spring mechanisms or similar means to position them in the opening. While some of these devices have achieved acceptance, their manufacture and use generally involve certain objections and limitations, such as high costsof manufacture and assembly, uncertainty of operation and complexity of design.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings and the following specification wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly cut away, of a bottle and medicine dropper provided with a device incorporating the invention illustrating a position assumed by the device when the medicine dropper is attached to bottle;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly cut away, of the bottle of Fig. 1 with the medicine dropper removed and illustrates the position assumed by the device to block the opening in the bottle neck;

Fig.3 illustrates the bottle of Fig. 2 turned upside down;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the valve and spring parts of the device and illustrates a way of associating them;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the assembledvalve and spring; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the spring.

In the drawings, there is shown a conventional glass bottle 1 of the type commonly used to contain medicinals, liquid therapeutics and other liquid or semi-liquid pharmaceutical formulations. The bottle has the usual main body portion 2 and threaded neck portion 3 through which the contents may be removed joined by sloping shoulder portion 4. A conventional medicine dropper 5 for removing the bottle contents and consisting of a resilient rubber bulb 6, a plastic screw cap 7, and a hollow glass tube 8, all associated in the regular manner, is attached to the bottle. It'is obvious that the contents of bottles of this and similar types, fitted with a medicine dropper, or a conventional screw cap, may be easily removed, even by young children.

To preventeasy removal and also accidental spilling 2,892,560 Patented June 30, 1959 of the contents of such bottles, a stopper device 9 is positioned in the'interior ofthe bottle to automatically close the opening in the neck of the bottle and keep it closed. When it is desired to gain entry into the bottle'to remove the contents, the device may be moved from its blocking position. The device includes a valve 10 and spring 11 which holds the valve positioned in the neck opening adjacent the junction of the neck and the sloping shoulder portion. To remove the contents of a bottle provided with the valve so positioned, the valve is pushed downwardly and to the side from its seated position. When a medicine dropper is used to remove the contents, the valve is pushed downwardly and to the side with the dropper tube, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1. When the medicine dropper is detached from the bottle and the dropper tube withdrawn, or when a conventional cap is used on the bottle, the valve is automatically seated in the neck of the bottle, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and blocks the opening.

A preferred structure which operates in the foregoing manner is shown in detail in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. It consists of the dome-shaped valve 10 and spring 11 which urges the valve into its seated position in the bottle neck. The valve is a hollow, semi-sphere of flexible material of slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the neck opening and having a centrally positioned radial hub 12 extend-ing inwardly from its top' center. The spring may be stainless spring steel wire, approximately 0.015 inch in diameter and is preferably formed with a straight portion 13 for approximately one-half its. length and arcuately, as for example in, a half loop! 14, for the remaining half. The valve is attached at the hub, 12 to the end of the straight portion 13 of the spring so that the straight portion and the hub. are substantially in alignment. The half. loop part of the spring provides the necessary springaction to seat the valve in the neck of the bottle and also to permit it to be moved from the neck portion so that entry can be gained into the bottle. The size of the half loop is preferably arranged so that when the valve is seated in the neck of the bottle, the spring will assume a position in the interior of the bottle with the edge of the half loop in contact with a side wall of the bottle and the tip 15 of the loop in contact with the bottom and opposite wall.

The overall length of the stopper device, consisting of the valve and spring, is determined by the dimensions of the bottle. The length of the device from the top of the valve to the bottom of the spring is made sufliciently greater than the distance from the neck portion of the bottle Within which the valve seats to the bottom of the bottle upon which the end of the spring rests so that the valve will be positively urged into seating engagement in the neck of the bottle and retained in that position.

The spring may be attached to the valve at the radial hub by force fitting the end of the spring into the hub. Alternatively, the hub may be longitudinally bored to receive the end of the spring to a diameter smaller than the diameter of the spring so that a snug fit will be obtained. A preferred way of attaching the spring and the valve is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6. As shown in Fig. 6, the end of straight part 13 of the spring which is joined to the valve hub is bent back upon itself for a short distance to form a hook 16. The tip portion of the hook is then bent outwardly to form a barb 17 to provide for more securely engaging 'the spring in the hub. To receive the spring formed in this manner, the valve hub is longitudinally bored as at 18 to a diameter approximately twice the diameter of the spring. The end of the spring formed in the shape of a hook is forced into the longitudinal bore of the hub until the spring contacts the bottom of the bore. After the spring has been placed in the bore, it cannot be readily withdrawn because the barb 17 penetrates into the hub wall 19, as shown in Fig. 4, and becomes embedded therein; Additional pulling onthe spring in an attempt to remove it forces the barb further into the hub wall, thus insuring more secure engagement betweenthe spring and valve.

- When the device has been assembled, it is placed in the interior of the bottle by passing loop end 14 of the spring through the neck of the bottle first. The valve which is made of resilient material, preferably molded in one piece from polyethylene, or a similar plastic, is distorted into an oval-shaped configuration, tilted slightly, and then forced through the neck of the bottle into the interior, with the aid of a prod if necessary. After the valve has passed through the neck and entered the interior of the bottle, it springs back into shape and reassumes its normal, semi-spherical form. It is retained in the bottle because its diameter is greater than the diameter of the opening in the neck of the bottle. The Wall 20 of the valve is preferably thinner at the peripheral edges, as for example by tapering from the center portion to the edges, to permit the edges to be flexed easily so that the valve will conform readily to the contours of the neck and seal effectively.

T By providing a valve which is dome-shaped or semispherical, more positive seating of the valve and sealing of the neck opening is obtained. Bottles and similar containers made by standard manufacturing techniques vary in their dimensions. Accordingly, to obtain a sealing fit between the valve and the inner surface of the walls defining the bottle opening, provision must be made to compensate for these size variances. The dome-shaped valve, whose diameter is greater than the diameter of the opening in the neck, provides the necessary compensation. The valve may fit higher or lower in the bottle neck, according to the dimensions of the neck opening, and may contact the wall at one side of the neck in sealing engagement at a point higher or lowerthan the opposite wall.

in addition, the use of a semi-spherical valve lessens the tendencyof the valve to fail to seat by binding on the bottle wall. When the valve is seated in the neck of the bottle, the force imposed upon the valve by the spring causing it to seat is substantially entirely in longitudinal alignment with the longitudinal axis of the neck portion of the bottle because of the configuration of thespring. The spring, due to its configuration and also to the manner in which it is associated with the valve, urges the valve in the direction of the neck of the bottle at all times. When the valve is forced aside from its seated position in the neck of the bottle, as for example, when the dropper tube part of a medicine dropper is placed in the interior, as shown in Fig. 1,

the forces urging the valve .into seating engagement in the neck of the bottle are no longer substantially entirely in longitudinal alignment with the longitudinal axis of the neck. A component of that force is then directed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the bottle at the point of contact between that surface and the surface of the valve.

There is, therefore, a tendency for the valve to bind on the inner surface of the bottle and fail to seat sent fiat surfaces or edges which would increase the tendency to bind. The rounded contour of the valve presents surfaces to which the bottle wall is in tangential relationship at substantially all times. This, in view of the direction the spring urges the valve; i.e., towards the bottle neck, insures thatithe valve will slide readily on the bottle wall and into seating position in the neck opening.

It is apparent that various changes, modifications, alterations andthe like may be made from the foregoing illustrative example while still remaining within the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a bottle having a bottom, sides, and a shoulder portion at the top thereof, the'shoulder portion converging to define an opening through which the bottle contents are removable, a stopper device to be positioned in the interior of the bottle to removably block the bottle opening to permit entry into the bottle comprising a flexible, hollow, dome-shaped valve presenting arcuate sealing surfaces for closing said opening, said valve being larger than said opening but being insertable therethrough, said valve having a centrally positioned integral radial hub, a spring for urging said valve into closing relationship with the bottle opening, said spring having a straight portion at one end for a substantial part of its length, a generally semi-circular intermediate portion curving outwardly from said straight portion, and a terminal portion, the end of said straight portion being attached to said radial hub in alignment therewith and terminating elow the periphery of said valve whereby the valve presents acontinuous, unbroken outer surface, said spring being adapted to be so tensioned within said bottle when positioned therein as to locate said valve in removable blocking relationship with the said bottle opening, said semi-circular, intermediate portion against a side portion of said bottle, and said terminal portion against the bottom of the bottle at a side portion substantially opposite the side portion against which said semicircular, intermediate portion is located.

'2. The combination comprising a bottle and a stopper device positioned in the interior of said bottle removably blocking said opening to permit entry into said bottle, said bottle having a bottom, sides, and a shoulder portion'at the top thereof, said shoulder portion converging to define an opening through which the bottle contents are removable, said stopper device comprising a flexible, hollow dome-shaped valve presenting arcuate sealing surfaces closing said opening, said valve being larger than said opening but being insertable thereth'rough, said valve having a centrally positioned integral radial hub, a spring urging said valve into closing relationship with the bottle opening, said spring having a straight portion atone end for a substantial part of its length, a generally semi-circular intermediate portion curving outwardly from from'said straight portion, and aterminal' portion, the end of said straight portion of said spring being attached to said radial hub in alignment ther'ewithand terminating below the periphery of said valve whereby the valve presents a continuous, unbroken outer surface, said spring. being so tensioned to locate said valve in removable blocking relationship with said bottle opening, said semi-circular, intermediate portion against a side portion of said bottle, and said terminal portion against "the bottom of said bottle at a side portion substantially opposite the side portion' against which said semi-circular, intermediate portion is located.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 45,112 Albertson Nov. 15, 1864 610,362 Moore Sept. 6, 1898 1,968,258 Neuberth et al. July 31, 1934 2,564,997 Rome Aug. 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 390,471 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1933 

